Northwestern Announces Summer Musical Theatre Festival

This June, Northwestern University's department of theatre and the Theatre and Interpretation Center will premiere the first of three new music theatre events that are part of the University's 2007 Summer Music Theatre Festival (June 21 to Aug. 18).

Summer Festival productions will be performed at a variety of Evanston campus venues, including the Josephine Louis Theatre, 20 Arts Circle Drive; the Hal and Martha Hyer Wallis Theatre, Theatre and Interpretation Center, 1949 Campus Drive; and the Ethel M. Barber Theatre, 30 Arts Circle Drive, as noted below.

The three new music theatre events are The Chicago Sound Connection (June 21 to 24) conceived, written, directed and choreographed by David H. Bell, and musically directed and arranged by Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler, which will be staged at the Louis Theatre; Perfect Relationship: A Salute to Comden and Green (July 6 to 29), directed by Dominic Missimi and performed at the Wallis Theater; and the American Music Theatre Project's fourth new musical, In the Bubble (July 27 to Aug. 12, which will be presented at the Barber Theater, with book by Rinne Groff, music by Michael Friedman and Joe Popp, lyrics by Friedman, Groff and Popp, choreography by Luis Perez and directed by Michael Greif, the director of Grey Gardens and Rent on Broadway. Oskar Eustis serves as dramaturge.

The Chicago Sound Connection is, according to press materials, "a new a cappella musical revue that explores the universal journeys of people around the world. It is a collage of urban, international popular culture, featuring songs in many languages. Sequences will include a Portuguese Fado circle, an Amsterdam dive bar, a Euro-trash Mediterranean dance club, an elegant Chicago speakeasy, a Spanish Flamenco Cava and an American revival meeting."

Perfect Relationship "features the work of one of the most successful lyricist/librettist teams of all time. Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote such well- known musicals as On the Town, Wonderful Town and Singin' in the Rain" Comden and Green worked both on Broadway and in Hollywood, garnering several Tony awards, a Grammy and Kennedy Center awards. This new cabaret-style show will feature some of their best-known songs, including 'Make Someone Happy,' 'Just in Time' and 'New York, New York.'"

In the Bubble "is a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of a nostalgic vision of 1976, when Jimmy Carter was running for the White House, crocheted bikinis were all the rage, and teenagers could 'get it on' without the fear of death. This new musical tells the tale of Todd Fielding, a fictional character suffering from the real disease of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), which has kept him stuck behind a plastic wall and separated from human touch for the first 17 years of his life. When Todd falls in love with the wealthy and high-spirited Gina Jenner, who lives next door, he is forced to choose between his safe existence in 'bubbled' captivity and a risky chance at the life he's always wanted."

In addition to the three new Summer Festival events, Northwestern's American Music Theatre Project (AMTP) will host the second Johnny
Mercer Power of the American Popular Song Festival (Aug. 12 to 18) at the Louis Theatre. The festival will feature conversations with prominent songwriters and singers working in the tradition of the legendary Johnny Mercer. An Aug. 18 gala concert featuring Mercer
melodies will be hosted by Northwestern alumnus Brian d'Arcy James, the Tony Award-nominated performer who appeared on Broadway in Sweet Smell of Success and Titanic. The Aug. 18 gala will only be open to 2007 Summer Music Theatre Festival series subscribers.

For more information or to order a season subscription or single or group tickets by phone, call the Theatre and Interpretation Center Box Office at (847) 491-7282.

Online ticket sales for Summer Music Theatre Festival productions also are available through TicketWeb.com by going to the Northwestern University Theatre and Interpretation Center Web site at www.tic.northwestern.edu/tickets.html and clicking the TicketWeb icon.

A season subscription to all three musicals is $72 for the general public; $67 for senior citizens (65 and older) and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $25 for students.

Photo of In the Bubble Director Michael Greif by Mark Rupp